Cult of Luna - Eternal Kingdom

Once pegged as post-metal rip-offs in the vein of Neurosis, Sweden’s Cult of Luna are fast becoming a formidable outfit in their own right and Eternal Kingdom strengthens that reputation. A concept album lyrically and musically based on the diary of a psychiatric patient who murdered his wife (and blamed it on characters from Swedish folklore) it’s a strange tale with music to match: the album managing to expand on the atmospherics of 2006’s excellent Somewhere Along the Highway, whilst also building in scope. And when it all comes together in the ten minute closing track – think doom riffs and brass fanfare – it points to a group soon to be name-checked in the way their forbearers are.